Monthly Archives: December 2015

Christmas is already behind us and we’re heading towards the end of the year… There’s just one more day left of this year and I’m thinking back of everything that happened in the past year.
I’ve been looking at a lot of pictures in the past few days and it’s bringing back a lot of memories.
While looking at all the pictures of last year I’m having mixed emotions. I’m feeling melancholic, happy, proud and grateful all at once… It’s been a year! So much has happened!
It’s good to look back and remember it all.

Behind the scenes we’ve done so much, 2015 was a good year for Robb’s music!
It all started with preparing the release of the new album ‘Sleep Tonight’.
A pre-release show took place at the Black Box in Belfast at the start of February and shortly after that, the first single from the new album, ‘The Mysteries of the Heart’ was released.
The release show of the album was during the Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival in March and ‘Sleep Tonight’ was released on the 20th of March.
Things got really busy from that moment on with radio interviews/performances, gigs and preparing new single releases.
Robb was asked to perform an acoustic version of ‘The Darker Side’ for The Arts Show (BBC2).

Due to the great feedback Robb received about this performance he decided to record an acoustic version of ‘The Darker Side’, which was released in July.
Around that same time Robb was also working on a video for the single ‘Headstrong’… The animals involved in this video kept him busy for months!! They took over Robb’s house….and life…;)
‘Headstrong’ was released in October and it was also featured on ‘Ireland Laid Bare’, a compilation album that features 16 Irish bands/singer-songwriters.
(https://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/ireland-laid-bare/id1045562334 )

The release was followed by a tour of The Netherlands. It was the 3rd time Robb and the band went to The Netherlands for a tour. This tour brought a lot of great opportunities, the gigs were good and the audience was great!

Right after that Robb started working on a new single ‘When Love Is Tangled Between Friends’, which was released as a Christmas single on the 11th of December. It’s available as a free download until the 1st of January. If you didn’t download the single yet, be fast! You can get this freebie through the following link:https://robbmurphy.bandcamp.com/

Everything mentioned above are just the highlights. It’s impossible to write about everything that happened…there’s just too much. One thing is for sure, there’s a lot to be thankful for. So many people are involved with Robb’s music, radio stations at home and abroad, radio- and TV-presenters, fans, support acts, musicians lending their skills, people coming to the gigs, bookers, promoters, venue-owners, people lending us instruments during the tour of The Netherlands, blog writers, journalists, magazines, people offering advice, people giving a helping hand, readers of the blogs I’m writing, cast for the music videos, friends, Robb’s fiancée and family, the band members and their partners and families, my own family. The support has been really amazing.
Without all the support we wouldn’t be able to do what we’ve been doing. Thank you to everyone involved and thank you to all who’ve been reading and sharing the blogs this year!

We’re looking forward to see what 2016 has in store for us. There are already a lot of plans, so keep an eye on Robb’s website, Facebook, Twitter and this blog to stay updated!

As always, a song to end this blog with.
Check out this recording of The Darker Side, performed live by Robb and the band on ‘Live uit Lloyd’, RTV Rijnmond, during the tour of The Netherlands. There are a lot of versions of The Darker Side, but this is Robb’s favourite:

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” – Norman Vincent Peale

Christmas…only one and a half weeks away from us.
I love this time of the year. Last week we decorated the house and the tree. It’s something the children always love to do. They love looking into the boxes and getting out all decorations. They always remember where we usually put them. Each year we go to a Christmas market and the children pick a new decoration for our tree. That became a tradition and over the years our tree became a very colourful and a very special tree with a variety of decorations. Special because all decorations have memories attached to them. Memories of the times we bought the decorations, but also memories of people who gave us decorations as a Christmas gift.

This time of the year always makes me more thoughtful. It makes me think back of the past year, remember everything that has happened, but it also makes me look forward to the new year ahead of us. Christmas is a state of mind…that Christmas-feeling is something we will (hopefully) all experience. It’s the time of the year when we are all putting ourselves aside and share love, kindness and happiness with the people around us. Regardless of your tradition, the winter holidays are a season of light, however it’s also the time of the year that may bring dark thoughts…
I do have dark thoughts as well. To give you an example, I’m pretty worried about the world we are living in right now… I’m worried about what kind of world our children will be living in when they’ve grown up. The financial crisis, warming of the earth, wars, terrorism…the next generation will be faced with the legacy of my own generation and the older generations. It’s obvious that the next generation will have to work longer and harder, probably with less wage and definitely with higher taxes. They will be faced with less security and more inequality because of the choices that some of my own generation and the older generations have made. I can’t change these facts and I can’t solve these big issues, but there is something else I can do to make this world a little bit nicer. The change begins with ourselves… It’s cliché but why do so many people limit their selves with showing love, kindness and happiness during the holiday season? Why not do it throughout the whole year? A little act of kindness, say ‘I love you’ more often to your loved ones, show people your appreciation…basic things we all seem to forget about so easily, but things that can really make a huge difference. It’s so simple…treat people the way you want to be treated…you will receive what you give…

This brings me to the quote I started this blog with and my wish for the new year.

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”

I wish that magic wand would be there forever…not just for Christmas…
If only everyone in this world would keep sharing love, kindness and happiness, the world would be so much nicer…

A song to end this blog with…
‘When Love Is Tangled Between Friends’
We’ve been busy behind the scenes! Robb released this song on Friday and it’s available as a free download until the 1st of January. The single is a remix of the original version taken from the album ‘Sleep Tonight’. It’s released as a Christmas-single and features a Christmas themed new music video.
The animals showed up again! They were up for a Christmas party!

You can download the song for FREE through the following link:

This will probably the last blog I’m writing in this year. Like so many other people we also have some very busy weeks ahead. Good times!
Thank you to all who’ve been reading and sharing the blogs this year!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and all the best for the new year.